


Erel of Zarufu

by The_clow_card



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-22
Updated: 2016-05-22
Packaged: 2018-06-09 22:43:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6926869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_clow_card/pseuds/The_clow_card
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A young girl from a secluded tribe of women in the Dark Continent only seeks acceptance from her fellow people.<br/>But as she grows older, she sees that she will never truly be a part of the Zarufu women.<br/>Could her real family lie beyond the Black Desert, in the world outside?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Erel of Zarufu

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, when I was younger, I admit that I didn't like OC stories much either. If I was reading a reallyyy good story, and all of a sudden there I an OC, I would say "Awwww man >:/ Are you serious right now? I don't want to read about THIS guy."  
> And today is the day I will be a total hypocrite. Because lately I have been forcing myself to read OC stories and draw/create my own OCs, and this is what Keegan and I have come up with. 
> 
> So, because the world I created in my head is way too similar to Magi, I decided to throw my OC in the Magi universe instead, otherwise I would feel like I was writing a bootleg story. 
> 
> I hope you like it! >.

The Iron Gate was lifting open again, chains rattled and the wooden contraption creaked at the winding movement and pushing of handles. Big, fierce women heaved with all their might.

There, Erel saw, not too far in the heated wind, came horses toward the entrance, kicking the sand from under their probably tired feet, yet they rushed home with excitement as they anticipated the rest and care of a familiar place after 2 months of travel.

On top of each horse rode a woman, 5 in total, carrying big bags and weapons attached to their saddles, their heads low and eyes squinted as the sand blew against their face. The expedition leader of the group removed her Toha mask as they crossed the gate and motioned for the horses to continue speeding furiously up the rocky hill, where they would arrive at the stables.

Erel’s eyes sparkled as the other Zarufu women behind the gate made way for them and cheered and hollered as the riders made their arrival. They danced in place and drew their swords and spears to wave them in the air.

“A feast!,” they yelled, “There will be a feast tonight!”

“A feast!,” little Erel tried to yell too, her voice ultimately drowned out by the cheering.

As the iron gate barred the entrance once more, the guards at the wall jumped down and ran with the other women up the hill to meet the 5 horse riders at the stables. Even the big women who had opened the gate ran with joy to greet them. Some held hands and pulled at their fellow people to get there faster.

Erel watched as they disappeared in the distance, but her short chubby legs fought to catch up with them.

“A feast!” she yelled again, throwing a stuffy arm in the air as she breathed heavily, and cheering to herself when she nearly reached the top of the hill.

Before she reached her goal, Nalo’s head popped out from the corner of a sandstone wall.

“Erel! Come now! You’re almost here!” she encouraged her.

Erel saw her and giggled as her heart fluttered and she pushed hard to finally reach the top, jumping to Nalo for a well-deserved hug.

Nalo received her with a big smile, “Good job Erel! I’m proud of your persistence,” she told her as she pat her head, “Come, it’s time to meet the riders!”

“Yey!” Erel cheered as Nalo carried her and ran to the stables.

They arrived to the scene when the riders had already hydrated and gotten their welcome pats and hugs, now they were revealing what they had gathered from far away land.

Nalo put Erel down, “Go ahead my little _phas_ , go see what they have brought!”

“Okay Nalo!,” she sang and went forward without hesitation, winding through the crowd of legs to get a front-row seat.

She came to a halt when one of the riders opened a bag full of yellow, shiny things with colorful jewels on them. The women cheered as the rider threw them across the air for them to catch.

Erel reached out for one but didn’t manage to catch any from all the pushing in the group, but that didn’t shake her, she stood ready for the next bag when another rider revealed a hoard of weapons. Erel hopped with everything she could to catch a weapon, but her little feet failed her.

She looked across from her, even the other young children had managed to catch a weapon and were showing it off to those around them. But still Erel did not let it get to her.

She jumped, and moved, and reached for anything else she could possibly receive from the riders: books, exotic fruits, goblets, golden jugs and vases, stacks of parchment paper, feathered pens, ink bottles, bottles, scrolls, anything, just anything!

At a vital moment, she jumped up and caught something fresh-feeling at the touch. Her heart skipped a beat. Her tubby fingers could barely enclose the object in her hand, and she brought her palm down to reveal a white and hollow spiraled rock. It was smooth and had light brown lines running along an opening at the bottom.

She jumped in the air and cheered and immediately zipped through the crowd to reach Nalo on the outskirts.

“Nalo! Nalo!,” she cheered, waving the thing in the hands to her, “Look!”

Nalo had a handful of trinkets in her hands, so she slipped them in a sack that was wrapped at her waist and kneeled down to inspect Erel’s “white rock”.

“Hmmm,” Nalo playfully pretended to think, “Erel, I think you have gotten something quite special today,” she said as she turned the thing in her hands.

Erel clapped out of excitement, “What is it what is it!”

“It’s a special rock, from the ocean!,” Nalo said, handing it back to her, “It’s called a seashell.”

“A sea shell?,” she repeated in awe, “What’s the ocean?” she asked with big curious eyes.

“Come,” Nalo said as she picked her up, “I will show you,”

Nalo’s _patis_ crunching against the little bits of gravel on the ground became louder as she carried Erel to the edge of the cliffside, away from the celebrating women, and she motioned at the vast land east of them, “Take a look at the Black Desert, Erel. Sand covers this whole place, right?”

Erel looked out into the distance and saw that Nalo was right, “Yes.”

“Now,” she said, turning to the west side of their fortress, “Do you see the Noojor River from here? Where we fish and swim and drink?”

“Yes,” replied Erel.

“Use your imagination, my little _phas_. Imagine if that river were _so_ big that it covered this entire land!” Nalo said as she sweeped her free hand across the horizon.

“Everything?!,” Erel exclaimed

“Everything, Erel. Imagine if all the sand in the Black Desert was water! Water as far as the eye can see, practically endless!,” Nalo continued to describe.

“That’s a lot of water, _mema_! We would need more boats!”

“That’s right!,” Nalo laughed, “Smart one you are,” she praised her as she booped her nose with a finger tap, “But _that_ would be an ocean. Endless water.”

“Ohhh,” Erel acknowledged, and looked down at her sea shell when Nalo’s hands encased hers.

“That is where this seashell comes from, Erel. There are so many seashells in the ocean of many sizes and colors. And sea shells love the ocean so much that they carry something special in them, do you want to know what it is?”

“What?” she looked up at Nalo as her shell was taken. Nalo put the opening of the shell against Erel’s ear, and she was surprised of the silence that wasn’t there.

Instead, she heard something that sounded like the wind, but a type of wind she had never experienced before. It was a full sound, rich and calming but strong in its own sense.

“The ocean. This is what it sounds like, little Erel. The seashells always carry home with them,” Nalo told her.

“Wow!,” Erel yelled, she took over Nalo’s position and held the shell against her ear by herself, and looked out into the desert, picturing a huge river flowing by and making the same sound as the shell.

“Can I go there some day?” Erel asked, still focused on the picture in her mind.

“Of course! Once you become a rider, you can volunteer to travel out into the world beyond the desert to collect treasures,” Nalo explained.

“Then I’m going to-“

 

“Hey!” a woman called out to Nalo in the distance, “We’re headed to temple! Join us!”

“We’ll be right there!,” Nalo called back. And the woman turned to walk away with the rest of the group, whos welcoming return celebration had just finished.

 

“It’s time for our feast, Erel.”

“Then let’s go, _mema_!” she proclaimed as she took the seashell and pointed its tip towards the temple of the Goddess Toha.

And they went onwards.

In the temple, everyone bowed on their knees facing the statuette of the Goddess at the front of the hall. As always, Nalo and Erel kneeled at the front of the bunch where the more influential people in their tribe sat.

Erel peeked her head up at the riders walking towards the Toha statue. 4 of them stopped right before reaching it and bowed, but the expedition leader stood in front of it, pulling the same mask she had worn during her ride through the desert from her bag. She raised it with both arms.

“My Goddess Toha,” the leader began, “we the Zarufu people are eternally grateful for your gracious guidance and watchful eye. We know that in the desert and in the foreign lands, through this mask, you reveal to us the truth behind all and keep us safe from darkness’s reach,” the leader placed the mask back onto the statue’s face where it is kept in-between times of travel.

Then she took a step back, bowed, and sat up with the rest of the people in the room as Afafet walked to the front. Erel’s feet felt sore and she sat criss-crossed, which won her a couple of stares, but she didn’t notice, as she was focused on what was ahead of her.

Afafet paid her respects to the Goddess and in the instant she turned to face the crowd she noticed Erel’s seating position, but just squinted for a split-second and continued on anyway.

“My people,” she began strongly, “tonight, we shall feast in the name of Goddess Toha for her protection and guidance over us… It was a successful expedition. And Toha has blessed us with many gifts this month… She has brought us food, treasures, knowledge, but most important of all-,” Afafet outstretched her palm to the 5 riders before her, “She has brought back our precious travelers safe and unharmed.”

Everyone in the room seemed to have a smile on their face at the statement, even if it was just a small twitch of the lips.

“So let us celebrate the return of our brave warriors! To the Toha Goddess!” she yelled, raising her hand.

“To the Toha Goddess!,” the tribe yelled in unision.

With that, the people began to chatter again as they got up from the ground and cheered and walked out of the temple.

Erel was about to pull Nalo out the temple with her, but Nalo patted Erel’s head and kneeled down to her level, “Erel, I have important business to discuss with Afafet. Please, run along to the celebration, I will be there in a moment.”

“Oh,” Erel said, “okay.”

Nalo watched as Erel walked out of the temple, seashell still in hand, with the rest of the tribe.

“It has been 5 years since you brought her here, yet she still can’t sit in the proper way during a ceremony,” Afafet said with her arms crossed once the temple was empty.

Nalo turned to Afafet and frowned, “Exactly. It has been 5 years. I brought her as a newborn. She is still young and you know it. How can you expect perfection from her?”

Afafet shook her head, “I don’t expect perfection, I know she will never be like us-“

“-Afa!”

“-But at the least, I expect proper respect!” she yelled.

Nalo clenched her jaw, “Do you remember getting everything correctly at the age of 5 years, Afa?”

“Of course!,” she claimed, “Because my caretaker made sure I learned everything necessary to be a great leader, _and a part of the Zarufu tribe._ ”

“You are going too far, Afafet,” Nalo warned her.

“No Nalo, you have already gone too far. You are lucky it was you. Had someone else brought an orphan child from foreign grounds, it would have been sacrificed instead.”

“Well!,” Nalo raised her voice, “Are we here to discuss the expedition or my _phas_?”

Afafet sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Moving on,” Afa continued, “here is the most recent news I have heard: Toha’s mask has seemed to detect a new evil that we have not yet heard of.”

Nalo’s eyes widened in surprise, “Were our travelers attacked?”

“No, as you can see, our travelers went and came safely and unscathed, but they tell me the mask saw _dark magic_. In the form of ruhk.”

Nalo gasped, “R-ruhk? That’s not possible!” Nalo put her hands on her waist and looked to the floor, “Ruhk is a sign of light, a source of creation, a good omen from the Gods around the world! If it has been tainted,” she stopped and turned in horror to Afafet, “that could only mean-“

Afafet walk up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders, giving her a light squeeze, “Nalo, relax.”

Nalo grabbed her by both wrists, “But Afafet!,” she panicked, eyes wide and beginning to tremble, “If it’s as the legends say, not even…not even Goddess Toha-!”

“I know!,” she rose her voice before calming down herself, “I know. I am well aware of this.”

“What are we going to do?,” Nalo’s voice cracked, “What is our plan of action? What will become of our tribe, our fortress, our land and our river? What will become of my little Erel? What-“

Afafet took Nalo into a big embrace, Nalo tensed at first, then settled against Afa’s chest.

“If it is as the legend says, then we still have 15 more years before we meet our fate,” Afafet tried to console her, “and that means we have 15 years to find the legendary fire king that will be able to pull us out of destruction.”

 

Afafet released Nalo and walked back towards the goddess statue, “So fear not, that Erel is safe for now.”

Nalo sighed, “Where are we going to find a fire king?”

“That is another part of the news, I apologize. I merely told you the bad news first,” Afafet explained.

Nalo scowled. Afafet nearly laughed, “I am sorry, you know me.”

“Continue before I leave,” Nalo warned.

“Right, so, the travelers overheard some conversations about these creators called Magi. They choose people worthy of being kings and guide them in life to become very powerful. Apparently magis can create ruhk at will, and the good kind at that.”

“Does that mean we need to acquire a magi of our own?” Nalo suggested.

“We can take that long way, yes, or we can just search for a fire king already chosen by a magi and convince him to protect our land.”

Nalo pouted, “But we live in the corner of the world. We stay secluded for a reason. Why would anyone from the outside want to help us?”

“We could offer some sort of reward in exchange for his services, like great riches. We have many jewels from our travels. Do kings not like that?”

“Hmm, I suppose?” she almost questioned, “but don’t you think they might want something more? That feels like too little pay to save an entire tribe.”

Afafet waved off the issue, “I’m sure we can come up with a method of pay when the time comes. In the meantime, over the next 15 years, I will be sending out our travelers to retrieve more information from the foreign lands,” she paused to look at Nalo in the eye, “I’m sure you can be of some assistance?”

Nalo thought for a while before speaking, “I am aware that I have not been very active in decision-making since I brought Erel, but I will not go out to expeditions until I have trained her well,” she said, holding her stare with Afafet to assure her she is serious.

Afafet shrugged, “Very well, have it your way.” 

“Afafet,” Nalo called out, and Afa faced her once more, “The people listen to you. You are the main influence of this tribe. I ask that you please treat Erel with more regard, so that the people may do that same. She will begin becoming more aware of her surroundings soon.”

“You mean aware that she is not wanted here? That she is different? That she really _shouldn’t_ be here?”

“ _Afafet_.”

“Surely you must have known this the moment you brought her, did you not?”

Nalo stared at her incredulously, “Afafet, all I ask is for help. I want Erel to grow up to be strong and independent like all of us in this tribe.”

“Of course you do, but she will never be the same,” Afafet scoffed.

Nalo began walking away from her, towards the exit of the temple, “I expect you to help me, or I will stop helping you.”

Afafet let out a harsh breath through her nose and crossed her arms as Nalo left the temple.

“I wasn’t done with the news,” she murmured to herself.

Outside, the women had started a bon fire and were playing at drums and shaking bells while they sang and danced around, their new jewelry shining against the flames. Some were at the tables eating away at the exotic fruit brought from today’s travels and a pig that had been sacrificed for the celebration. Others chattered away as they drank wine from golden goblets together. Another woman played a sitar away from the crowd and had a couple of spectators sitting around her. And of course, another small group of people were gathered around the tribe elder, for it was only on celebration days that the elder told those who wanted it their future fortune.

There, in front of the tribe elder, was Erel. The elder was inspecting her at her seashell and putting it to her ear. Nalo smiled and made her way over.

“Ahhh, yes, this shell comes from far, far away,” the elder told Erel, “I can hear the port of Balbadd in this shell. It is a long way from home. Cherish it, for you are its home now,” the elder finished with a smile and handed the shell back to Erel.

“Thank you _neni,_ ” she sang, “What is-“

Another young girl thrust her arm in front of Erel and shoved her away to show the elder the weapon she had caught, “ _Neni_! Look at this weapon! Where did it come from, _neni_?”

Erel stumbled back and shuffled her feet to get herself back to a standing, and recomposed herself to watch the weapon be inspected.

The elder grabbed the sword and took it out of its protective scabbard.

“Hmm, this is a dagger,” the elder pointed out, “It has a very intricate pattern on the handle. These patterns carry extravagant jewels from a land           named Reim. It is the lands closest to us upon leaving on our journey,” she said as she handed it back to the young Zarufu girl, “Keep it close, in your hands you carry the weapon of a strong warrior,” the elder finished off.

“Haha! Thank you _neni_!” the girl said and ran off.

Erel hesitated and rocked back and forth before considering to step up again, but before she could decide Nalo patted her shoulder. Erel turned to greet her with a smile.

“Erel, come, there is something I want to show you,” Nalo told her as she held her hand and guided her up a hill, away from the celebratory crowd, back to her adobe.

Arriving at the medium-sized mud-brick home, they entered through the doorway and Nalo turned on a nearby oil-lantern. She made sure to light up the torch outside next to the doorway as well.

Erel walked to the bed and sat. She continued to inspect her seashell, letting her finger follow the spiral all the way to the bottom.

Nalo unwrapped the bag attatched to her waist and set it on the table. She one-by-one pulled all the trinckets out of the bag and reviewed each of them, until she got to a small book, a picture book, and made her way to the bed to sit next to Erel.

“Erel, look,” she said as she handed the book to her. Erel placed the seashell on the bed and grabbed the book to scan through it.

“What is it?” she said, raising an eyebrow and turning it various ways.

“It’s a book, my little _phas_. I’m going to show you how to read the language of the outside world starting tomorrow. So that you can read about the adventures and legends of the globe, and so that if you ever travel, you will be able to speak with those outside.”

“Ohhh, okay Nalo!,” she said, continuing to scan through the little book and paying more attention to the pictures now.

“Is this what the outside world looks like?” she said, pointing to a huge building with what looked like spikes and colored windows.

“Yes Erel, some parts of the outside world look just like that,” Nalo told her, “That’s a castle. It is where the leaders of some other tribes live, because their tribe is much bigger than ours.”

“Ohhh,” Erel said in wonder.

Erel continued to turn the pages of the book and hum whenever she saw a different picture. Nalo watched her as she did this, taking note of how small she was compared to the rest of the tribe. She was chubby, stubby, her cheeks could easily be pinched. Whereas the other girls in the tribe her age were already taller than her. Their hair was a long length, and their arms looked easy to buff up with training. Their legs were certainly stronger than Erel’s. But even so…

“Erel.”

The little girl turned to look at Nalo.

Nalo looked her in the eye, “No matter what anyone says, you will be a strong woman. You will read and write in two languages, you will learn to use a sword and a bow, you will learn how to ride a horse, how to fish, and swim, and grow your own crops. You will learn the map of the world. You will learn to fight big enemies and how to take something when you need it,” Nalo paused to hold her shoulder, “You will become a great warrior.”

Erel scowled, closed the book, and shifted to stand on the bed, “Yes Nalo,” she started, pumping her fist in the air and yelling to the ceiling, “I will become a great warrior! I promise!”

Nalo’s heart was touched. She smiled at her _phas._ She knew she was not going to be let down.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope that was easy to understand?  
> I'm only 15 so...I mean my writing isn't THAT good but I'm giving it a try. Keegan here is cheering me on lol. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!! We highly appreciate it <3


End file.
